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Ford (NYSE:F) on Wednesday announced the worldwide recall of more than half a million minivans and SUVs over potentially hazardous defects.

Ford has recalled about 286,000 of its 2001- and 2002-model Escape SUVs to fix the caps on the brake master cylinder reservoirs. The company said some vehicles’ caps might be leaking break fluid, which could lead to corrosion that might cause a fire.

Ford also has recalled about 253,000 Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey minivans from the 2004 and 2005 model years to fix their powertrains’ torque converter output shafts. The shafts are susceptible to failure, which would cause sudden loss of power.

Ford spokesman Dan Pierce said two minor Freestar/Monterey-related accidents have allegedly occurred in the past eight years.

Ford recalled 3.3 million vehicles in 2011, the third-most among automakers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Honda (NYSE:HMC) recalled the most, at 3.9 million vehicles, and Toyota (NYSE:TM) recalled 3.5 million. General Motors (NYSE:GM) only recalled 500,000.